VETERAN Shane Mosley was held to a draw by Sergio Mora as judges found little to distinguish between the two during their 12-round light-middleweight bout at the Staples Center.
The 39-year-old American was smashed by Floyd Mayweather Jr in May and was hoping to get himself back on track.
But he was unable to outpoint his tentative fellow American in a defensive battle that drew boos from the crowd in LA.
One judge gave Mosley the edge with a 116-112 victory, another gave Mora the win 115-113 whlst the third judged things all square at 114-114.
“We both fought hard,” Mosley said. “It was a good fight, a good decision.”
Mora on the other hand believed he had done enough to win.
“I should’ve listened to my corner,” he said. “They were telling me that it was a close fight. I thought I was winning so I didn’t fight as hard because I have respect for Shane. I didn’t want to hurt him.”
Elsewhere Lovemore Ndou retained his IBO welterweight world title winning a split decision fight over Bongani Mwelase in Johannesburg.
The Syndey-based 39-year-old is 11 years younger and holds a 10cm height advantage over the previously unbeaten South African southpaw.
The South African and neutral country judges had Ndou winning the fight by two and five points respectively, while an Australian official judged the fight in Mwelase’s favour by two points.
“(Mwelase) is a very strong boy,” Ndou said. “I had to be very careful when I got inside that I didn’t run into a good punch.
“(Harold Volbrecht) did a great job working out a fight plan for me; he just wanted me to box, stay on my toes and use my experience and that’s what we did.”(Eurosport).